Ferguson was shot twice in the chest while sitting in a car. Peter Fazer, a passenger, was shot once in the shoulder.

Blackshear was found not guilty of shooting Frazer.

Mason called the case “difficult.”

“We did not have a great deal of scientific evidence,” she said after the conviction and sentencing.

Without DNA or fingerprints, Mason relied heavily on testimony of two men on opposite sides of the incident: Frazer and Reginald Bradshaw.

Frazer arrived with Ferguson at Gulf Terrace Condominiums in Destin the night of the shooting. Frazer actually was the one who brought nearly a pound of marijuana to sell.

Bradshaw drove Blackshear and Arderius Warren to the condominium complex to buy the drugs. Warren, who is scheduled to be tried for murder March 4, also allegedly participated in the drug deal/robbery.

Mason said although Frazer and Bradshaw originally lied to investigators, their testimony during Blackshear’s trial presented basically the same account of the shooting.

“Long before DNA and fingerprints, murders were solved every day,” Mason said. “We were able to do that again this week.”

The jury deliberated for about four hours before returning its verdicts.

In exchange for his testimony in the Blackshear and Warren cases, Bradshaw has been allowed to plead guilty to third-degree murder and to being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Under the deal, Bradshaw cannot serve more than 11 years in prison.

Like Blackshear, Warren is charged with first-degree murder. If he is convicted, state sentencing guidelines will require Okaloosa County Circuit Judge William Stone to sentence him to life without parole.

Ferguson was shot twice in the chest while sitting in a car. Peter Fazer, a passenger, was shot once in the shoulder.

Blackshear was found not guilty of shooting Frazer.

Mason called the case “difficult.”

“We did not have a great deal of scientific evidence,” she said after the conviction and sentencing.

Without DNA or fingerprints, Mason relied heavily on testimony of two men on opposite sides of the incident: Frazer and Reginald Bradshaw.

Frazer arrived with Ferguson at Gulf Terrace Condominiums in Destin the night of the shooting. Frazer actually was the one who brought nearly a pound of marijuana to sell.

Bradshaw drove Blackshear and Arderius Warren to the condominium complex to buy the drugs. Warren, who is scheduled to be tried for murder March 4, also allegedly participated in the drug deal/robbery.

Mason said although Frazer and Bradshaw originally lied to investigators, their testimony during Blackshear’s trial presented basically the same account of the shooting.

“Long before DNA and fingerprints, murders were solved every day,” Mason said. “We were able to do that again this week.”

The jury deliberated for about four hours before returning its verdicts.

In exchange for his testimony in the Blackshear and Warren cases, Bradshaw has been allowed to plead guilty to third-degree murder and to being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Under the deal, Bradshaw cannot serve more than 11 years in prison.

Like Blackshear, Warren is charged with first-degree murder. If he is convicted, state sentencing guidelines will require Okaloosa County Circuit Judge William Stone to sentence him to life without parole.